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Published: March 20th 2010
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Orchard Road
Good thing most of Singapore is connected underground because it was pouring I had a wonderful time in Singapore. The city is great and the food is even better. Staying at the Betel Box was a lot of fun, I was able to meet a ton of great people that made my week in Singapore even more enjoyable. The common room at the hostel served as the perfect gathering / relaxing spot.
I was there for about a week and thought that would be too much time initially but found myself hurrying around on my last day to see little India. I am also going back to Singapore for a day and have a "to do" list of activities...back to a shoe store at Raffles Mall, need to have a Singapore Sling at the Raffles hotel and spa treatments in Little India. And then back to the Betel Box for one last night.
My plan for the week was to mix up sightseeing with beach time and it all worked out perfect.
On Monday I headed down to Orchard Road for some shopping stimulus overload. Within a couple of hours I was exhausted. I have shopped in a lot of shopping meccas around the world but I think this one
Me and the Merlion
The Merlion is the head of a lion and the body of a fish. The word comes from "mer" meaning sea and lion. takes the cake. The malls are crazy. It is like having a Water Tower Place on ever block the entire length of Michigan Avenue. I think within an hour I had gone in 3 Zaras and had past at least that many Louis Vuitton stores. I thought I would want to do some serious shopping but I actually didn't like much at all. Everything seemed to have a flower pattern or big bows. Not my style. The highlight of Orchard Road in my opinion was the food courts. They are amazing. We arent talking about food courts like at home, as much as I do love Sabarro, these food courts are great. A ton of meal options, fabulous bakeries and everything is very fresh. Much much more to come on my Singapore food review.
Tuesday was sightseeing day. Went around with Lauren (an Aussie from my hostel). We saw the Merlion, headed to the Raffles hotel, ate at Din Tai Fung (INCREDIBLE WONTONS) and wondered around Chinatown. All in all it was a great day but our feet were killing us. Also, we tasted some other not so good treats like, floss (a bun with some kind of pork
Sentosa
Beautiful beaches at Sentosa jelly on it and pork shavings) and mashed potatoes out of the machine at 711.
Wednesday was Sentosa Day. I was ready for some beach time after walking around a city for hours over the past two days. The best way I can describe Sentosa is a tropical fancy version of Gatlinburg. Everything is man made, the beaches are really really nice but very theme parkish. You can go to water show, there is an aquarium, a luge ride, etc. This week Universal Studios also opened on Sentosa and they are building casinos. My biggest surprise was that there is also a Garrett's Popcorn, nothing like getting some caramel / cheese combo while in Singapore. Even though it was all man-made I really did enjoy the beach, it was great. I spent most of the day relaxing and reading. It was the only day this week that we didnt get rain either, couldnt have worked out any better.
On Thursday, Ivana (a friend from hostel who is from Czech Republic) headed to Pulau Ubin which is an island off the coast of Singapore. Pulau Ubin is a small island that is full of nature. The thing to do
is to rent a bike and tour around the island, it was a great escape from the city. Neither of us had been biking in quite sometime so it was a great work out as well. We didnt get to see any of the wild pigs but we did take in all of the nature, sea walk and mangrove walk. Later that night was the famous Betel Box food tour, Tony the owner of the hostel was our guide and it was great. We learned a ton about Singapore, he answered all of the questions everyone always asks and we ate amazing food. More to come in the food review...
Friday was my last day and I headed to Little India. I really enjoyed walking the streets of Little India and plan to come back when I return to Singapore. I want to come back hungry, I love Indian food and I was disappointed that I had just eaten breakfast.
Overall, Singapore was great. I could have spent more time there but I think in my 5 days I was able to see the highlights. If you go to Singapore bring your appetite, the food is fabulous. I
have a list of things I need to eat when I come back for a day!!
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Natalie Taylor
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Garrett's?
Windy City mix in Singapore? Oh happy day! That's so exciting. Am enjoying reading about your journey - seems like you've really settled into solo travel. Chicago misses you, though!